The use of power devices, such as uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), to provide regulated, uninterrupted power for sensitive and/or critical loads, such as computer systems and other data processing systems, is known. A number of different UPS products are available including those identified under the trade name SMART-UPS from APC by Schneider Electric, Inc. of West Kingston, R.I. In a typical UPS, a battery is used to provide backup power for a critical load during blackout or brownout conditions. A user of a typical UPS is able to configure and control the UPS either through a computer coupled to the UPS or through a user interface of the UPS itself. There are many different types of protocols for communicating between computer systems and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) coupled to a communications network. Such networks may be, for example, point-to-point networks, shared networks such as busses, or any other media or network configuration type. Communications with a UPS on a network can include providing commands to the UPS and receiving data from the UPS, for example, monitoring UPS activity.